When the Atlanta Braves’ Ozzie Albies stepped into the batter’s box during the fifth inning of Friday’s game, the Phillies’ right-hander already had a plan.

Nola, known for his fastball command and nasty curveball, took a different approach with two outs in a tied ballgame. Three of the five pitches he threw to Albies in the at-bat were changeups. The last, 84.6 mph and dropping out of the zone, got Albies swinging to end the inning.

Albies flung his bat toward the Braves’ dugout in disgust.

Nola found an effective and much-needed in-game adjustment during the Phillies’ 7-3 win Friday against the Braves at Citizens Bank Park. The solution? An unusually high number of changeups.

He threw only two changeups during a 25-pitch first inning that saw the Braves go ahead 3-0. Over the next six scoreless innings, Nola tossed 26 changeups, accounting for 34.2 percent...